As you’ve probably guessed by looking at my gallery of recipes, we cook and bake a lot at Casa Melo. And because of that sometimes my pants don’t fit. We’ve been having a lot of fun in the “test kitchen” lately, so it’s about that time of the year where I take a little break from sugar. One of the hardest things for me to give up is fizzy drinks and cocktails, but now I figured out a way so I don’t have to.

Making a granita is easy, but you need to be prepared to walk back and forth to the freezer every 20 minutes for a couple of hours.

First you need a flat-bottomed dish, like a Pyrex baking pan. Empty your Zevia soda flavor of choice into the pan and let freeze for 20 minutes. Then stir with a fork, scraping down the sides and bottom of the pan. Repeat this every 20 minutes until you have a snow-like consistency.

Once that is done, you can assemble your cocktail. Start with combining your ingredients in a glass and then pile in the icy granita. Once the granita hits the alcohol, it’ll start to melt creating a slushy beverage much like an adult Slurpee. Basically what my dreams are made of.

Last night was the series finale of Mad Men which means I needed a good cocktail. After way too much careful thought I landed on the classic New York cocktail, both because I thought it was fitting and because it was strong enough to dull the emotions that the show evokes within me.

This whiskey based drink is one of those cocktails that have been around for like 100 years, but isn’t very en vogue right now. It should be though. It’s almost like a whiskey sour but sweeter and less tart. I like to use Rye, but you can use whatever whiskey or bourbon floats your boat.

Like this:

The best Sundays for me are spent inside, binge watching TV shows in my PJs, eating things I probably shouldn’t, and making cocktails. That’s what we did today. We’ve been re-watching every episode of Mad Men before the final episodes premiere, and I’ve been dying to break in my new glasses from Baigelman Glass, so we made Attaboys and ate poptarts. I’m tipsy as I write this, because this cocktail is strong and I drank a double. ANYWAY, here’s the recipe for your own Sunday Funday pajama cocktail party.

I recently received a jar of these moonshine cherries from Ole Smoky and I am completely smitten. I’m sure I’m going to be using them for heaps of things, but you know me and boozy desserts. I immediately blended them up in a creamy milkshake with vanilla ice cream and dark chocolate shavings. They’re soaked in 100 proof moonshine so they have a serious kick. I was buzzing on both sugar and alcohol by the time I was halfway through the shake. Perfect.

Since Valentine’s Day is coming up I figured I would share my recipe with you. Either you’re going to want to share this with a date, maybe your gals if you’re into the Galentine’s thing, or you’re going to drink the entire thing alone while watching some Audrey Hepburn movie on Netflix. Either way alcohol, ice cream, and chocolate are pretty standard on Valentine’s Day. Here’s how to mix them all together for a bomb.com milkshake.

Blend it all together with a splash of milk if needed. Serve with whipped cream, more chocolate, and a moonshine cherry on top.

Ole Smoky describes the cherries as “a sweet hello followed by a warm goodbye.” I can’t describe it any better. When mixed with creamy ice cream and bitter dark chocolate, it’s the ultimate dessert combo. Try it!

Thank you to Ole Smoky Tennessee Moonshine for providing product for this post.

As you can see above, I really like this cool spot in San Diego called Polite Provisions, and one of my favorite drinks on the menu is the Veronica Rose. The menu’s description reads “Aperol, rose gomme, and sparkling wine”. Perfect.

It’s delicious and beautiful, but since I can’t get down to San Diego every time I want one, I recreated it at home. Here’s my version of the Veronica Rose.